CN220500294U - Ink cartridge - Google Patents

Abstract

The present utility model relates to an ink cartridge mountable forward in a front-rear direction to an image forming apparatus, including a housing forming a cavity in which ink is accommodated, and an ink outlet portion provided on the housing for supplying the ink outward, and a detected portion provided above the housing for effecting mounting detection of the ink cartridge and/or detection of a type of the ink cartridge in cooperation with an external member, the ink cartridge further including a space portion provided above the housing and behind the detected portion, the detected portion having a rear-facing end face, the space portion having a distance m from the end face of the detected portion to a rear surface of the housing in the front-rear direction of the ink cartridge, the m satisfying 10mm < m < 40mm, the ink cartridge being subjected to reduced resistance when moving in the image forming apparatus, and possible shaking being suppressed, whereby the ink cartridge can be mounted and removed more smoothly and accurately.

Description

Ink cartridge

The present utility model claims priority to the chinese prior application of application number 202221177937.2, whose content is cross-referenced in this application, filed by the chinese patent office on day 2022, month 5 and day 16.

Technical Field

The present utility model relates to the field of inkjet imaging, and more particularly, to an ink cartridge detachably mountable to an inkjet imaging apparatus.

Background

The ink cartridge is a consumable material commonly used for an image forming apparatus in which ink that can be supplied to the image forming apparatus is contained, and in general, the ink cartridge is provided with an ink discharging portion for discharging ink outward, a holding portion for facilitating mounting and removing operations of the ink cartridge, a detected portion for interacting with a detecting member in the image forming apparatus to effect detection of the ink cartridge, an electrical contact portion for establishing a communication connection with the image forming apparatus, and the like.

When the ink cartridge is mounted toward the image forming apparatus, not only the ink outlet portion needs to be accurately combined with the ink suction needle provided in the image forming apparatus, but also the detected portion and the electric contact portion need to be accurately combined with the corresponding parts in the image forming apparatus, respectively, and when the ink cartridge needs to be taken out from the image forming apparatus, the combination between the parts is cut off, and in the mounting and taking out process of the ink cartridge, the contact surface of the ink cartridge with the image forming apparatus is large, so that the ink cartridge cannot be accurately mounted and quickly taken out, and therefore, how to ensure that the ink cartridge is accurately mounted and quickly taken out is a problem to be considered.

Disclosure of Invention

The utility model provides an ink box, in the installation process of the ink box, each part in the ink box can be smoothly and accurately combined with the corresponding part of imaging equipment, in the removal process of the ink box, each part in the ink box can be smoothly and rapidly separated from the corresponding part of the imaging equipment, and the specific scheme is as follows:

the ink cartridge is capable of being mounted to an image forming apparatus forward in a front-rear direction, and comprises a housing forming a cavity, and an ink outlet portion and a detected portion provided on the housing, wherein ink is accommodated in the cavity, the ink outlet portion is provided in front of the housing for supplying ink outward, the detected portion is provided above the housing for realizing mounting detection of the ink cartridge and/or detection of a type of the ink cartridge in cooperation with an external member, the ink cartridge further comprises a clearance portion located above the housing and behind the detected portion, the detected portion has a rear-facing end face, and the clearance portion has a distance m from the end face of the detected portion to a rear surface of the housing in the front-rear direction of the ink cartridge, the m satisfying 10mm < m < 40mm.

The clearance part is further provided with a distance n from the upper surface of the shell to the upper end of the detected part along the up-down direction of the ink box, wherein n is more than or equal to 10mm and less than or equal to t/2, and t is the size of the ink box in the up-down direction.

In one embodiment, the image forming apparatus is further provided with an ink absorbing needle, ink in the chamber is supplied to the image forming apparatus through the ink outlet portion and the ink absorbing needle, and the ink cartridge is positioned at a predetermined mounting position of the image forming apparatus by the combination of the ink outlet portion and the ink absorbing needle.

In one embodiment, a clamping member is provided below the housing, with which the cartridge is clamped with the image forming apparatus, and is positioned at a predetermined mounting position of the image forming apparatus.

In one embodiment, a lower surface of the cartridge is provided with a friction member, and the cartridge is positioned at a predetermined mounting position of the image forming apparatus by friction between the friction member and the image forming apparatus.

The ink box also comprises a chip positioned above the ink outlet part, and the detected part is positioned between the chip and the empty avoiding part along the front-back direction.

Preferably, the ink remaining amount in the cartridge is detected by a communication connection established between the chip and the image forming apparatus; specifically, the imaging page number when the ink box is filled with ink is written in advance into the chip, when the imaging device works, the imaging device reversely writes the imaged page number information into the chip, the chip calculates the residual imaging page number according to the reversely written information, and when the imaging device works again, the imaging device reads the imaging page number residual information in the chip to judge whether a prompt for replacing the ink box is required to be sent out.

The casing includes the drain pan and the face lid that combine each other, and the cavity is located between drain pan and the face lid, and the drain pan is uncovered in one side of left and right directions, and the ink horn is still including being used for covering this uncovered flexible membrane.

The ink outlet part is provided with an ink outlet far away from the shell, the ink box further comprises an air guide channel arranged on the shell, the air guide channel comprises a first communication port communicated with the outside atmosphere, a second communication port communicated with the cavity and a channel positioned between the first communication port and the second communication port, and the first communication port and the ink outlet are sealed by the same sealing film.

The structure of the ink box is greatly simplified, the resistance of the ink box can be reduced when the ink box moves in the imaging equipment, and the possible shaking of the ink box is restrained, so that the ink box can be installed and taken out more smoothly and accurately.

Drawings

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of an ink cartridge according to the present utility model.

Fig. 2 is a state diagram of the ink cartridge according to the present utility model in which part of the components are exploded.

Fig. 3 is a side view of the bottom case of the ink cartridge according to the present utility model as viewed in the left-right direction.

Detailed Description

Embodiments of the present utility model are described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of an ink cartridge according to the present utility model; FIG. 2 is an exploded view of some of the components of the ink cartridge of the present utility model; fig. 3 is a side view of the bottom case of the ink cartridge according to the present utility model as viewed in the left-right direction.

The direction in which the ink cartridge 10 is mounted to the image forming apparatus is defined as the front, the direction opposite to the front is defined as the rear, the height direction of the ink cartridge 10 is the up-down direction, and the width direction is the left-right direction, based on the posture of the ink cartridge 10 when mounted to the image forming apparatus.

The ink cartridge 10 includes a housing 1, an ink outlet portion 2 provided on the housing 1, a detected portion 3, a chip 4, and an air guide passage 5, the housing 1 including a bottom case 1b and a face cover 1a joined to each other in a left-right direction, a chamber 10a for accommodating ink being formed between the bottom case 1b and the face cover 1a, the ink outlet portion 2 communicating with the chamber 10a, the ink being supplied to the outside through an ink outlet 21 provided at the ink outlet portion 2 remote from the chamber 10 a; during the mounting of the ink cartridge 10, the detected portion 3 and the detecting portion in the image forming apparatus are combined with each other to detect whether the ink cartridge 10 is mounted in place and/or the type of the ink cartridge 10; the chip 4 has electrical contacts that make electrical contact with contact pins in the image forming apparatus when the cartridge 10 is mounted to a predetermined position of the image forming apparatus so that the cartridge 10 establishes a communication connection with the image forming apparatus, and the air guide passage 5 is used to introduce the atmosphere into the chamber 10a during operation of the cartridge 10 so that the air pressure in the chamber 10a is maintained stable.

Corresponding to the above orientation, the case 1 has a front surface 11 facing forward, a rear surface 12 facing rearward, an upper surface 13 facing upward, a lower surface 14 facing downward, and a left surface 16 facing leftward and a right surface 15 facing rightward, respectively, the ink outlet portion 2 is formed to protrude forward from the front surface 11, the detected portion 3 is formed to protrude upward from the upper surface 13, the ink cartridge 10 is mounted forward and taken out rearward, the chip 4 is located above the ink outlet portion 2, and the chip 4 is located in front of and below the detected portion 3, so that the electrical contacts in the chip 4 can be brought into contact with the contact pins without hindrance during mounting of the ink cartridge 10, and ink leaking from the ink outlet portion 2 does not easily adhere to the chip 4 to cause shorting of the chip 4 during operation of the ink cartridge 10.

As shown in fig. 2 and 3, the air guide passage 5 is provided on the bottom case 1b, and includes a first communication port 51 communicating with the outside atmosphere, a second communication port 52 communicating with the cavity 10a, and a passage 53 located between the first communication port 51 and the second communication port 52, wherein the first communication port 51 is provided below the case 1 and communicates with the atmosphere through the opening 18, and it is possible to prevent a user from damaging the first communication port 51 during operation of the ink cartridge 10, and the second communication port guides the air introduced from the passage 53 in the up-down direction above the cavity 10a, and it is possible that the first communication port 51 may be provided at other positions of the case 1 without limitation as long as the first communication port 51 can communicate with the atmosphere. Further, the first communication port 51 may be disposed adjacent to the ink outlet port 21, and when the ink cartridge 10 is assembled, one sealing film seals the first communication port 51 and the ink outlet port 21 at the same time, so that when the ink cartridge 10 is assembled, the ink suction needle in the image forming apparatus opens the first communication port 51 and the ink outlet port 21 at the same time while piercing the sealing film, and the user does not have to release the sealing of the first communication port 51 before starting to use the ink cartridge 10, the use steps can be reduced, and accordingly, the use experience can be improved.

As shown in fig. 2, the bottom case 1b is open at one side in the left-right direction, the ink cartridge 10 further includes a flexible film 6 for covering the opening and a plurality of supporting portions 16 provided on the bottom case 1b, the flexible film is supported by the supporting portions 16, preferably, the flexible film 6 is welded on the supporting portions 16, at this time, the chamber 10a is enclosed by the bottom case 1b and the flexible film 6, and even if the air pressure in the chamber 10a is reduced, the flexible film 6 does not sink into the chamber 10a to affect the flow of ink; when the cover 1a is removed, the remaining amount of ink in the cavity 10a is observed from outside the cavity 10a, so that the situation in the cavity 10a can be grasped quickly by the user, alternatively, the remaining amount of ink (the number of remaining imaging pages) in the cavity 10a can also be detected through the communication connection established between the chip 4 and the imaging device, for example, the number of imaging pages when the chip 4 is pre-written into the ink cartridge 10 and filled with ink, after the communication connection is established between the chip 4 and the imaging device, the imaging device reversely writes the information of the number of imaging pages into the chip 4 when the imaging device works, reads the information of the remaining imaging pages in the chip 4 when the imaging device works again, and judges, and prompts the user to replace the ink cartridge if the remaining information is lower than a predetermined value; preferably, at least one of the plurality of support parts 16 is connected only to the left or right side panel forming the cavity 10a, that is, at least one of the plurality of support parts 16 is not connected to the front, rear, upper and lower side panels forming the cavity 10a, reducing the flow resistance of ink in the cavity 10 a.

Generally, the bottom case 1b and the face cover 1a are combined by welding/gluing or the like, in order to ensure more accurate positioning of the bottom case 1b and the face cover 1a, one of the bottom case 1b and the face cover 1a is provided with at least three combining protrusions, and the other is provided with at least three combining holes 17, and the openings of the combining holes 17 are formed in a tapered shape, and the combining holes 17 also play a role of guiding the combining protrusions during the combining of the bottom case 1b and the face cover 1a, so that the bottom case 1b and the face cover 1a can be combined more quickly, as shown in the figure.

In some embodiments, the detected part 3 is formed protruding upward from the upper surface 13, and a light emitting member and a light receiving member are provided in the image forming apparatus, which are opposed in the left-right direction, and the image forming apparatus can perform the detection of the mounting/model of the ink cartridge 10 by detecting the shielding/attenuation and part shielding/non-attenuation of the light emitted by the light emitting member by the detected part 3.

In the front-rear direction, the detected part 3 has a rear-facing end face 31, in the embodiment of the present utility model, the end face 31 is provided with a distance m from the rear surface 12 of the housing 1 in the front-rear direction and satisfies 10 mm.ltoreq.m.ltoreq.40 mm, and in the up-down direction, the end face 31 is provided with a distance n from the upper surface 13 of the housing 1 (a distance from the upper surface 13 of the housing to the upper end of the detected part) and satisfies 10 mm.ltoreq.n.ltoreq.t/2, wherein t is the dimension of the ink cartridge 10 in the up-down direction, and thus, a space avoiding part 19 located behind the detected part 3 is formed above the housing 1, the space avoiding part 19 having a dimension m in the front-rear direction and a dimension n in the up-down direction; when the ink cartridge 10 reaches the predetermined mounting position, the abutting piece 9 located in the image forming apparatus enters the space avoiding portion 19 without coming into contact with the ink cartridge 10; that is, the abutting piece 9 originally used to abut the ink cartridge 10 at the predetermined position no longer abuts the ink cartridge 10, at this time, the function of abutting the ink cartridge 10 can be achieved by other portions of the ink cartridge 10, for example, a friction piece is provided below/under the ink cartridge 10/housing 1, the ink cartridge 10 is positioned at the predetermined position by friction between the friction piece and the image forming apparatus, or a click piece is provided below the ink cartridge 10/housing 1, the ink cartridge 10 is positioned at the predetermined mounting position of the image forming apparatus by the click piece being snapped with the image forming apparatus, or the positioning of the ink cartridge 10 is achieved by the combination of the ink absorbing needle provided in the image forming apparatus and the ink discharging portion 2, and the ink in the chamber is supplied to the image forming apparatus through the ink discharging portion 2 and the ink absorbing needle.

The ink cartridge 10 according to the present utility model has the following advantageous effects:

in the first aspect, the overall structure of the ink cartridge 10 is simplified, and correspondingly, the structure of a mold for producing the ink cartridge 10 is also simplified;

in the second aspect, the ink cartridge 10 can be reduced in size in the up-down direction, which is advantageous not only in downsizing of the image forming apparatus, but also in reducing resistance to the ink cartridge 10 when mounted, thereby preventing the ink cartridge 10 from being obstructed to cause rattling, thereby causing a shift in the relative positions of the ink outlet 21 and the ink suction needle, and/or a shift in the relative positions of the electrical contacts of the chip 4 and the stylus;

in the third aspect, when the ink cartridge 10 needs to be taken out, the ink absorbing needle and the ink outlet part 2 can be quickly separated from each other, so that the occurrence of ink leakage caused by long-time relative movement between the ink absorbing needle and the ink outlet part 2 can be effectively prevented, particularly, the situation that the ink cartridge 10 is positioned by combining the ink absorbing needle and the ink outlet part 2 can be realized, and meanwhile, the electrical connection between the electrical contact of the chip 4 and the contact pin can be quickly cut off, and the chip 4 is prevented from being short-circuited;

in the fourth aspect, during the mounting of the ink cartridge 10, the user can put a finger into the space-avoiding portion 19 and push the distal end face 31, so that the ink cartridge 10 can be quickly mounted to a predetermined position, also the occurrence of ink leakage due to long-time relative movement between the ink-sucking needle and the ink-discharging portion 2 can be prevented, the shaking of the ink cartridge 10 can be effectively prevented, the accuracy of the coupling between the ink-sucking needle and the ink-discharging portion 2 can be improved, and at the same time, the electrical connection of the electrical contact of the chip 4 and the stylus can be quickly cut off, preventing the chip 4 from short-circuiting.

In the fifth aspect, after the imaging device reversely writes the imaged page number information into the chip 4, according to the reversely written information, the chip 4 calculates the remaining imaged page number, and when the imaging device works next time, the imaging page number remaining information stored in the chip 4 is read, so that the ink remaining amount is indirectly detected, the mode can simplify the program of the imaging device, can improve the universality of the imaging device, or can improve the design freedom degree of the chip, and the imaging device sends out a prompt time with low ink amount or changing the ink box to a user without being determined by preset imaging in the imaging device, but can be set in the chip according to the use habit of the user; it will be appreciated that in other embodiments, the alarm timing of the imaging device may also be determined by a program preset in the imaging device.

As described above, each component in the cartridge can be smoothly and precisely combined with the corresponding component of the image forming apparatus during the installation of the cartridge 10, and can be smoothly and rapidly separated from the corresponding component of the image forming apparatus during the removal of the cartridge 10.

Claims (10)

1. An ink cartridge mountable forward in a forward-backward direction to an image forming apparatus, the ink cartridge including a housing forming a cavity in which ink is accommodated, and an ink outlet portion provided in front of the housing for supplying the ink to the outside and a detected portion provided above the housing for effecting mounting detection of the ink cartridge and/or detection of a type of the ink cartridge in cooperation with an external member,

the ink box is characterized by further comprising a clearance part which is positioned above the shell and behind the detected part, wherein the detected part is provided with a tail end surface facing backwards, and the clearance part is provided with a distance m from the tail end surface of the detected part to the rear surface of the shell along the front-rear direction of the ink box, and m is more than or equal to 10mm and less than or equal to 40mm.

2. The ink cartridge according to claim 1, wherein the space avoiding portion further has a distance n from an upper surface of the case to an upper end of the detected portion in an up-down direction of the ink cartridge, the n satisfying 10mm n t/2, wherein t is a dimension of the ink cartridge in the up-down direction.

3. The ink cartridge according to claim 1, wherein the image forming apparatus is further provided with an ink absorbing needle, ink in the chamber is supplied to the image forming apparatus through the ink outlet portion and the ink absorbing needle, and the ink cartridge is positioned at a predetermined mounting position of the image forming apparatus by the combination of the ink outlet portion and the ink absorbing needle.

4. The ink cartridge as claimed in claim 1, wherein a locking member is provided below the housing, and the ink cartridge is positioned at a predetermined mounting position of the image forming apparatus by locking the image forming apparatus with the locking member.

5. The cartridge according to claim 1, wherein a lower surface of the cartridge is provided with a friction member, and the cartridge is positioned at a predetermined mounting position of the image forming apparatus by friction between the friction member and the image forming apparatus.

6. The ink cartridge as claimed in claim 1, further comprising a chip located above the ink outlet portion, the detected portion being located between the chip and the space avoiding portion in a front-rear direction.

7. The cartridge of claim 6, wherein an ink level in the cartridge is detected by a communication connection established between the chip and the imaging device.

8. The ink cartridge of claim 7, wherein the chip is pre-written with the number of imaging pages when the ink cartridge is filled with ink, the imaging device is operative to write back the information of the number of imaging pages to the chip, the chip calculates the remaining number of imaging pages based on the information written back, and the imaging device is operative again to read the remaining information of the imaging pages in the chip to make a prompt for determining whether or not to issue a replacement of the ink cartridge.

9. The ink cartridge as claimed in claim 1, wherein the case includes a bottom case and a face cover combined with each other, the cavity is located between the bottom case and the face cover, the bottom case is opened at one side in a left-right direction, and the ink cartridge further includes a flexible film for covering the opening.

10. The ink cartridge according to any one of claims 1 to 9, wherein the ink outlet portion has an ink outlet remote from the housing, the ink cartridge further comprising an air guide passage provided on the housing, the air guide passage including a first communication port communicating with the outside atmosphere, a second communication port communicating with the cavity, and a passage between the first communication port and the second communication port, the first communication port and the ink outlet port being sealed by the same sealing film.